How to make your own blended cheese

Blended cheeses are a firm favourite on the Christmas cheeseboard. Deriving from Roman times, these modern cheeses are often made using traditional English hard and semi-hard cheeses, like Wensleydale, Cheddar, Red Leicester and White Stilton, which are blended with small pieces of fruit, herbs and spices. Current popular varieties include Wensleydale with Cranberries and White Stilton with Apricots.

With just weeks left until Christmas, the nation’s cheesemakers are rolling out their festive blends with a number of new Christmassy combos destined to hit the supermarket shelves soon. Hits have included Wensleydale with Orange and Champagne, Wensleydale Winter Warmer with Cranberries and Mulled Wine Spice and Long Clawson White Stilton with Lemon.

If you’re feeling creative in the kitchen this Christmas, you can try your hand at making your very own blended cheeses. Not only will these make a great addition to your festive cheeseboard, but they can also make the perfect gift for cheese-lovers!

1. Crumble the cheese and mix it together with your ingredients of choice. For harder cheeses like Cheddar you may find it easier to use a coarse grater rather than crumbling the cheese.2. Put your mixture into a straight sided mug and line it with cling film or cheesecloth.3. Push the cheese mixture down firmly to fill all the gaps and, using a smaller sized mug or any object the same profile as the mug, put a weight on top so that the cheese becomes firm and perfectly shaped. Put in the fridge.4. Leave overnight and remove the cloth or cling film to reveal a perfectly shaped mini truckle.